Arthur Cohn, Producer of Oscar-Winning Movies Including ‘Garden of the Finzi-Continis,’ Dies at 98

Arthur Cohn, the distinguished Swiss producer of six Oscar-winning films including 1970’s “The Garden of the Finzi-Continis,” died Friday in Jerusalem. He was 98.

“The Garden of the Finzi-Continis,” directed by Vittorio de Sica, is about an Italian Jewish family in Mussolini’s Italy. It won the Oscar for best foreign film for Italy and was nominated for best adapted screenplay.

Cohn’s other projects that garnered Oscars include the 1976 Jean-Jacques Annaud movie “Black and White in Color,” the only film from Ivory Coast to win the foreign film Oscar; and chess drama “Dangerous Moves,” the first Swiss foreign language Oscar winner in 1984.

In documentaries, Cohn produced Oscar winners “Sky Above and Mud Beneath,” Barbara Kopple’s “American Dream” and “One Day in September,” about the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre.

Cohn also produced Walter Salles’ “Central Station,” which was Oscar-nommed for best foreign film and won the Golden Globe for best foreign film, “The Chorus,” which was Oscar-nommed, and De Sica’s “A Brief Vacation,” which won the David di Donatello award.

His other films include “The Yellow Handkerchief,” “White Lies,” “Love on the Groud,” “Sunflower,” “A Place for Lovers” and “Woman Times Seven.”

Cohn’s father was Marcus Cohn, a lawyer who saved many Jews in Switzerland during World War II. Arthur Cohn started out as a reporter for Swiss Radio, then worked as a screenwriter before moving into producing.

Cohn was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1992, and was awarded the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French minister of culture as well as the Humanitarian Award by the National Board of Review. He received lifetime achievement awards from film festivals including Chicago, Shanghai, Jerusalem and Haifa.

He is survived by his wife Naomi Cohn-Shapiro; his brother Gabriel; children Nurith, Marcus, Amy, Emanuel and Naomi and eight grandchildren.

A funeral service in Jerusalem will be streamed live on YouTube on Saturday at 9 p.m.